


Pieces

by Luminovia



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: (jsyk GDOV tag means for self-harm mentions in case yall are curious), Depression, M/M, Oral Sex, Self-Harm, Smut, Suicide Attempt, and eventual smut, i might do trans!lance but i havent decided yet, yes indeed
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-08-04
Updated: 2017-02-25
Packaged: 2018-07-29 08:39:52
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 7
Words: 5,217
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7677604
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Luminovia/pseuds/Luminovia
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Keith began to notice something about Lance that worries him deeply. After confronting Lance about it, Keith becomes his main source of support and comfort. </p><p>Lance feels broken, and he needs Keith to make him feel whole.</p><p> </p><p>(Inspired by the song "Pieces" by Red)</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Realization

**Author's Note:**

> It's been a while since I've written anything. I just got into Voltron a few days ago and I'm in love with Klance. Anywho, hello there, readers! I hope you enjoy!

"Hunk, really? Stop hogging all the food goo; it's only breakfast!"

  
Hunk shrugged, "The most important meal of the day."

  
"That doesn't mean you get _all_ of it," Pidge grumbled.

  
Keith watched as the two paladins argued a bit over breakfast. He cracked an amused smirk and glanced over at Shiro, who was holding his head in his hands from the bickering.

  
Lance entered the room with a small plate of goo in his hands and a displeased look on his face. He was obviously still waking up, seeing as he took a seat right next to Keith. Lance mumbled a quick "G'morning" to the other paladins and begrudgingly started to eat. Some days, Lance would glare at Keith from across the table until one of them said something to send them flying into an argument or some form of food fight. Other days, he would silently eat and go back to his room. Today was one of those "other" days.

  
"Lance! Keith!" The two heard Coran's voice from the kitchen area. They looked at each other dejectedly before rising from their seats and heading over.

  
"What's up, Coran?" Keith asked, poking his head in.

  
"We're having some technical trouble with the automatic dishwasher," he replied, "You two don't really have to do very much around the castle, so I'm putting you in charge of washing and drying the dishes."

  
"Really?? Come on, Coran," Lance grumbled.

  
"It's better than you just lazing about all day and sleeping, Lance."

  
Keith let out a chuckle.

  
"Fine. I get to dry the dishes, though."

  
"Rock, paper, scissors, Lance."

  
Reluctantly, Lance played the game; simultaneously, he threw scissors while Keith threw rock, earning another complaint from the former.

  
Lance rolled up his sleeves and started to wash the dishes. The two didn't say much while they worked, but Keith heard a quiet sound from Lance, as if he were sucking in air through his teeth. Keith peeked over and looked at his arms and noticed something he'd never seen before.

  
Scars. Lines and lines across his skin. Some old, some new. Some deep, some shallow. In particular, he noticed one on his wrist closer to his hand; it was what seemed like an open cut. One that was very recent.

  
Keith opened his mouth to say something, but Lance placed down the last piece of silverware and pulled up his sleeves and hurried out of the room.

  
Placing the last fork in the drawer, Keith hurried out of the room after Lance. He ran down the hallway and approached the door to his room, pausing to gather his thoughts.

  
_"Those scars... They were in a pattern. That couldn't be from training or missions. Something's not right. He's not okay."_

  
Taking a deep breath, he knocked at the door three times. Lance opened up.

  
"Oh, it's you. What do you want?"

  
"Lance, I..." Keith reached a hand out towards him, but pulled it back quickly. "Lance, in the kitchen, I saw your... Your arm."

  
Lance's eyes widened when he realized what Keith meant.

  
"Depression is not an unfamiliar thing to me. I just want you to know you're not alone. I'm sorry that things have been tough, and I know our bickering doesn't really help that, but I just... I never realized."

  
Lance stared down at the floor, his eyes growing a bit misty.

  
"Lance, if you ever need anyone to-"

  
Keith was interrupted by the other's arms suddenly embracing him. Lance looked up at him.

  
"Please don't tell anyone."

  
"Lance, if you're safety is at stake, you do realize that I have to-"

  
"Please."

  
Keith took a deep breath. "...Okay."


	2. Falling For Keith

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I don't have a set time exactly for when I'll be updating this, but the next one will probably be pretty soon too! I think I've made the decision to put in trans!Lance, by the way. I'm a nerd for that headcanon!

Keith became a support system for Lance. On the worst days, Keith would comfort him until he fell asleep. Lance seemed to have it worse towards nighttime, when the weight of everything came crashing down on him.

  
Gradually, Lance started to become better; but one day, during a training simulation, he almost seriously injured Shiro without realizing. Allura called him over and gave him a harsh lecture, which ended with him storming off.

  
Almost instinctively, Keith ran after him.

 

* * *

 

"Lance? Open up, buddy, it's Keith."

  
No response.

  
"Please? I don't want to have to break down your door."

  
After a few tics, Lance unlocked the door. Keith's worried expression met his red, puffy, sullen eyes. Lance walked over to his bed, hiding himself away under the covers. Keith followed, sitting down on the opposite side of the bed.

  
"It's all my fault," Lance said quietly, "He could've gotten really, really hurt, Keith."

  
"Lance..."

  
He shot a glance at Keith.

  
"I was completely off in my own world and I almost shot Shiro. I never fucked up that badly. Even Allura thought I was being reckless."

  
Keith took a quiet deep breath. "You can't blame yourself for what happened, Lance. You were out of focus. You've been really tired lately, both physically and emotionally. A mistake is a mistake, and we all know it wasn't intentional. Allura's just been a little stressed lately, too."

  
Lance burrowed himself deeper into his blankets.

  
"I just want to die."

  
Keith pulled in a breath of air and let it out slowly. Lance sat up.

  
"I just feel... broken," he said, pulling his knees to his chest, "I feel like I'm always the one messing up. Remember the time I took that alien thief on a ride and she stole the blue lion from me? Or the time I went in guns blazing just to try and impress Allura? Why am I such a fuck-up, Keith?"

  
"Lance, you're not a fuck-up. We've all had our share of mistakes. Like when I decided to trail an enemy when I needed to stay put, or when I thought I could take things into my own hands and tried to take out an entire fleet without even so much as consulting you guys. Hell, I even got kicked out of the Galaxy Garrison. Everyone makes mistakes and everyone fails at some point in their life. It's not about focusing on those failures- that's why people give up. It's about getting back up even after you've fallen down. Trust me, nobody knows that better than me."

  
Lance ran a hand over his eyes, glancing over at the other boy. He cracked a half-smile at Keith and relaxed a bit. He was surprised when Keith lightly grasped his wrist and looked at the scars on his arm. Slowly, they were fading. He looked up at Lance again.

  
"You're a better person than you think. You can overcome this."

  
Lance wanted so badly to just hug Keith, and to hold the hug for as long as he could. He resisted the urge and instead gave him a heartfelt "thank you".

  
Tears pricked the corners of his eyes again. This time, they were tears of gratitude and love.

  
Keith nodded in reply. He made sure Lance would be okay, and said he had to return to training before they started worrying about the two. He added that he would cover for Lance and that he could come back and join at anytime. With that, Keith left the room, leaving Lance alone again, looking outside the window into the vast abyss that was space. Lance placed a hand on the spot where his friend had sat just moments before. The bed was still warm with his presence.

  
Lance's mind drifted off to thoughts of Keith. What it would be like to wake up to his face, what it would be like to get to stare into those pretty eyes, or place a hand on his strong jawline, or feel the muscular part of his abdomen, or-

  
Wait, why was he thinking of this?

  
"Am I in love with him?" Lance whispered quietly.

  
"... I think I am."


	3. Failed Ambush

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I highly recommend listening to this playlist as you read, it's pretty hardcore: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLs8Avc7WydkNBaCIj1z1IMkT3AbJA6wnd

He became a hopeless romantic.

  
Lance had paid more attention to Keith ever since he realized his own feelings for the other boy. As much as he wanted to deny it, Keith became the face behind all of Lance's poems and all of his daydreams. While Keith ate, or trained, or even just stood around, Lance couldn't help but steal glances at him every other second.

  
The two didn't argue as much as they had before. Everyone had even noticed that the castle had become a lot more... quiet.

* * *

  
"... Make our attack... Fly in from the left side... Slip underground..."

  
Lance only heard part of the plan. Today, their mission was to liberate another planet from the hands of the Galra. He didn't quite catch the name or exactly what he was supposed to do. His mind wandered off.

  
"Lance, you with us?" Shiro inquired.

  
"Yeah."

  
"Good, then you know your position? Hang back with Pidge until we give you further instructions?"

  
Lance nodded quickly, scanning the rest of the group, whose eyes fell away from him after he nodded.

  
"Okay, good. Ready up. Pidge, Lance, be ready to jump in at a moment's notice."

  
"Right," they replied simultaneously.

  
The paladins jumped into their respective lions, with Shiro, Hunk, and Keith flying down towards the planet. Pidge and Lance flew by the castle, just outside the atmosphere.

  
A few minutes went by, then Shiro called for Pidge to help Shiro and Hunk with the forefront attack and called for Lance to help Keith with attacking the incoming Galra fleet ships. Keith took down a single ship with ease, using his sword as a means of attack. Keith flew by the lasers smoothly, but Lance wasn't having as much luck, and was under heavy fire.

  
One of the five remaining ships started to charge a cannon, aiming it at Lance's lion.

  
"Keith, I could use some back up! I'm getting literally ass-blasted by these guys," Lance called out.

  
Keith had just destroyed a second ship just as he noticed the cannon.

  
"Lance! Cannon!"

  
"Huh-"

  
Lance turned his attention 180 degrees around before noticing it. Keith flew in like lightning, taking the hit from the cannon.

  
"Keith?!" Lance yelled, startling the other paladins.

  
"Lance, what's wrong? Keith? Do you copy?" Shiro's voice sounded distant as Lance watched the red lion plummet towards the planet, entering the atmosphere.

  
"... Pull back, Shiro," Lance said, diving towards the red lion and it's paladin to carry it back to the castle.

  
"What? What happened?"

  
"Things are not looking good up here. We need to retreat for now."

  
Shiro called for a retreat on their behalf, and Allura used a worm hole at the very second the castle had been spotted.

* * *

  
Lance held his head in his hands, bouncing his leg nervously as he imagined all the things that could go wrong; he imagined Keith not pulling through. _"And if he doesn't pull through, it's all my fault... I should've been paying attention,"_ he thought to himself, _"It should have been me. It could've been me. It would've been better if it were."_

  
He fought the urge to completely break down, and looked over at the rest of his worried squad instead.

  
Lance jumped at the sound of the door opening, hoping for Keith but seeing Allura, who didn't have a hopeful look on her face. Hunk ran over to Allura and immediately began asking if Keith was okay, how he was doing, and other sorts of questions.

  
"Hunk, he'll be okay. He just needs rest," she replied, as if to answer all his questions, "He's okay, everyone; please, just return to your duties. He'll be awake and better than ever before you know it."

  
Just as they all turned away, Allura motioned Shiro over. Pidge and Hunk went on, turning the corner away from the resting pods. Lance hid behind a corner, listening to what Allura was telling Shiro.

  
"There's a chance, a fair chance, that Keith might not make it," she whispered.

  
Lance felt his heart drop and shatter into a million pieces.

  
"However, I'll have Coran keep an eye on him overnight in case anything out of the normal should happen. I think he will make it, but I didn't wish to scare the rest of the paladins. The last thing we need now is for everyone to be stressed out about it. Please keep this information to yourself."

  
"Will do, Princess."

  
Lance covered his mouth as if he were going to throw up. Quietly, he stumbled away back to his room.

  
He didn't leave it for the rest of the day.


	4. Coming Out

Lance waited anxiously the next few days for news. He hadn't slept very well and even crept into the sleeping pod chambers at night while Coran was sleeping to see if Keith was okay. His heart rate dipped dangerously low at times, and Lance couldn't help but tear up every time he saw it happening. He watched as parts of Keith's flesh started to regenerate itself at a fast rate, hoping that it would heal up in time.

  
By the time it was the morning of a few days later, Lance was nodding off every now and then, only to open his eyes when he remembered Keith yelling out his name in a final act of desperation. Shiro, too was obviously bothered, and didn't really make the attempt to eat.

  
Allura called for a couple of days off in order for everyone to recuperate and wait for Keith.

  
In his room, Lance had on only his boxers, looking out into the vast array of stars that made up the space around the castle.

  
Throughout the week, seeing as there was yet to be any news of Keith's well-being, Lance slowly reclined into his old habits of self-harm, blaming himself for the whole incident and wishing he had taken Keith's place.

  
 _"No one should have saved me,"_ he thought, _"Definitely not Keith. I didn't deserve to be saved, but he saved me. What should I do now...? He's been my only saving grace, and I need him now more than ever..."_

  
He pulled himself out from under his covers, making his way to the door. He threw on a shirt and a pair of shorts quickly and hurried back to Keith. He sneaked into the room, making sure no one was around. Going over to the pod that held Keith, he let it up from the ground and looked at the seemingly frozen-in-time body. Gently, he placed a hand on the glass between them.

  
"I'm sorry. I was clumsy, Keith. If I had just been paying more attention..."

  
He let out a sigh. "I miss you, Keith. I miss looking in your eyes when you want to help me, and I miss the soft and warm hugs you gave me when I needed them. I've been different these past few weeks you've been helping me, but it was sort of like a happy-different, y'know?"

  
A very quiet humming of an engine from another room was the only thing to fill the silence.

  
"Wake up, Keith, please? I need you..."

  
No other sounds.

  
"I... I love you, Keith."

  
A soft creek from across the room made Lance whip his head around. He froze in fear as he saw Pidge standing at the door and peering in the room with wide eyes.

  
"Uh..." Pidge shifted around awkwardly, "Are- Are you okay, Lance?"

  
 _"Shit,"_ Lance thought. He rubbed the back of his hand over his eyes, getting rid of the fact that he had been crying at all.

  
"Pidge- I-I, uh," Lance stuttered out, "Just- um... Don't tell anyone, okay?"

  
Pidge shrugged. "Not really my problem."

  
"Hold on, let me explain!" Lance called, "Keith was- is- close to me on a sort of personal level. I just..."

  
Lance sat down on the steps in front of the pod. Pidge, feeling sympathetic, took the time to join him.

  
"Pidge."

  
"Hm?"

  
"We're kind of similar, aren't we?"

  
"I hope not," Pidge replied jokingly. Lance gave them a split-second death glance before continuing.

  
"There's at least one person we would sacrifice everything for just to keep them alive."

  
Pidge nodded. They remembered their family, and thought of the time they almost left Team Voltron to save them.

  
"And then there's... This whole thing," Lance said, gesturing to his own chest.

  
Pidge gave him a quizzical look. "What does that even mean?"

  
"Pidge, I'm gonna trust you with a secret, but you have to keep it to yourself. You can't tell Shiro, or Allura, or her little mice friends either."

  
They nodded. Lance took a breath and lifted up his shirt, showing Pidge the scars that were on both sides, right underneath his pectoral muscles. Pidge took a second, but then realized what Lance had meant by it.

  
"Wait, you're-?"

  
"Yeah."

  
"Why didn't you tell anyone?"

  
"Same reason you didn't tell anyone about your secret, Pidge. I don't want everyone to look at me differently. I just... I hope you don't, Pidge, even if it's not exactly the same as your situation."

  
They put a hand on his shoulder, giving him an expression that was purely a "you can trust me" face.

  
"And Keith helps me out with other stuff- I mean, I've got some things that I have to work out. I'm glad I can tell this to you though, Pidge. I appreciate it."

  
"That's the nicest thing you've ever said to me, Lance."

  
"I'm learning," he said, smirking.

  
Pidge smiled in return and then turned to look at the pod with Keith in it.

  
"Do you think he'll be okay?" Pidge asked.

  
Lance nodded vigorously, but he wasn't as sure as he let on.

  
_"I hope so."_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Little bit of a bonding moment between Lance and Pidge there. I don't really know how to handle Pidge as a character- so far, I like the idea of genderfluid Pidge- and I'm going by using they/them pronouns. I apologize if I'm doing anything offensive! Hopefully I'm not, but if I am, go ahead and let me know ^ . ^


	5. Star Light, Star Bright

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ... First star I kiss tonight~
> 
>  
> 
> Heeeyyyyyy, sorry if I'm lagging a bit behind, friends! I've been super duper busy with work and college and catsitting and getting ready to do adult things... Anyway, enjoy!

The Paladins waited everyday with bated breath for Keith to wake up. On the nights when Lance couldn't sleep, he hung out in the infirmary room, giving away his own deep secrets to an unconscious Keith- that is, when Coran was out of the room.

  
After 5 days of patience and anxiety, Keith came to. Allura, Coran, and the rest of the Paladins were overjoyed and threw him a mini-party to welcome him back.

  
As the crew went to sleep that night, Lance snuck over to Keith's room and knocked on the door.

  
"Come in," Keith called out. Lance walked in sheepishly, causing Keith to put down the book he had been reading.

  
"Oh, hey Lance, wh-"

  
Keith was cut off by Lance suddenly shifting him over a bit and crawling in the bed, facing the opposite way from Keith.

  
"Please, just for tonight. The past few days haven't been super great for me," Lance mumbled.

  
Keith let out a huff, but smiled at him and laid down with his back facing Lance's.

  
"Just for tonight," Keith replied. Lance let out a hum to thank him.

  
A few minutes later, Lance turned over on his other side.

  
"Keith," he whispered, earning a "hm" in reply.

  
"How do you feel about transgender people in terms of dating and stuff?"

  
Keith flipped over on his side and gave Lance a confused look. "Why are you asking me this in the middle of the night?"

  
Lance hesitated, but then shrugged.

  
"I guess? I don't know what you mean, though. I'm not anti-LGB-"

  
"Trans men in particular."

  
Being too tired to process anything and being too oblivious in general, Keith didn't pick up what Lance was putting down.

  
"I'd date them, I guess."

  
Lance nodded slowly. "Wait, what's your sexuality?"

  
"I don't really care about gender that much, so I guess pan."

  
"Okay, but wh-"

  
Lance was interrupted by the soft smack of a pillow hitting him in the face.

  
"Ow! The fuck, Keith?"

  
"Keep talking and see what happens."

  
Lance, getting audibly frustrated, smacked his own pillow in the other's face. In no time, it had escalated into a full-scale pillow war between the two. Lance was pelted with pillows from left and right, and faced a cushion-y defeat. Dragging himself from the pillow pile, he looked at Keith, whose dark eyes twinkled brightly in the starlight. Lance turned his face away from him as if he were pouting, but was, in all actuality, blushing.

  
"Why do you have so many damn pillows in here, anyway?"

  
Keith simply shrugged as he helped Lance get up. "I'm just a comfy guy."

  
Lance laughed at the remark. There was a small moment of silence, and in that moment they looked at each other, staring into the other's eyes.

  
_"This is it,"_ Lance thought, _"Just like in the movies."_

  
Lance learned forward, letting his eyes flutter shut as he pulled Keith in for a tender kiss.

  
But this wasn't a movie.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Mwahaha. It'd be cruel if I just never picked this fic up again after this chapter.
> 
> (I'm definitely continuing, don't worry!!)


	6. Revelations

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> HEY HEY WARNING LOOK HERE  
> yknow how this is tagged "eventual smut"  
> welp! here it is! eventual, but still smut! it's oral
> 
> Also fuck yeah season 2 I'm pumped I'm back

Lance kissed him softly on the lips for a few seconds. His eyes flew open and he pulled away as he looked at Keith, whose expression was half surprised and half exhausted.

  
"Oh," Lance mumbled, "I... I'm sorry. I got caught up in the momen-"

  
Keith grabbed the other paladin by the shoulders and stared into his soft, chocolate-y eyes. He let out a brief smirk before kissing Lance again, their bodies close and their minds even closer.

  
"I've felt the same way about you for the longest time. I just never imagined you would like me like that," Keith whispered, holding Lance's hands tightly. Their eyes shined in the wake of a brilliant kiss.

  
"Of course! Who could hate you? But..." Lance turned away a little. "I just... I hope you don't see me differently, but... I have something about myself that I need to tell you."

  
Keith shook his head. "I don't know anything that could pull me away from this."

  
Lance pulled his shirt up, revealing what Pidge had seen not that long ago. It took Keith a tic, but he realized what it meant. He held his hand up to touch the scar, looking towards Lance for affirmation. Lance nodded. Gently, he brushed the scar, and then looked back at Lance's hopeful expression. Smiling, Keith held his hand to Lance's face, cradling it as he ran his thumb across the other's cheek, wiping away a tear.

  
"I could never change what I feel for you. Don't forget, I'm pan, and I really couldn't give a shit if you were anything else. What I feel is real, and I don't want to lose it."

  
"Keith..." Lance said, nearly crying from joy.

  
"Hey, I just wiped away that tear!" Keith said.

  
Lance shrugged. "I can't help it!" he replied, laughing.

  
Keith tackled Lance onto the bed, and the two of them started wrestling playfully. Lance ended up on top of Keith, likely because he was in a weakened state. Lance jokingly struck a power pose, and Keith replied by smirking and rolling his eyes. Lance placed his hands back on the bed to either side of Keith's head. They looked at each other briefly, their laughter dying and their souls entwining. The red paladin pulled in Lance for another kiss, more passionate and somewhat sloppy; however, neither of the boys cared at all how they displayed their affection, they simply wanted to know that it was there.

  
Lance had shifted his hand from Keith's chest down to his hip, hesitating to go any further. Keith placed his hands on Lance's hips in return, his fingers curling in anticipation. Lance pulled away from the kiss.

  
"Keith, can I-" he began to ask, his hand nervously tapping on Keith's hips, "Is it alright if... If I blow you?"

  
Keith's face was as red as his lion.

  
"Yeah," he said, "but only if you want to. Don't feel forced to."

  
Lance nodded vigorously. "Wouldn't have brought it up, otherwise," he replied.

  
Keith shrugged, smirking. Lance sat back on his legs, nervously unzipping Keith's pants and undoing the button. He shimmied the pants down and off of Keith's legs, moving out of the way to pull them off completely. Keith was wearing a pair of maroon-colored briefs, which didn't do much to hide his erection. As Lance slowly slid down the briefs, Keith took his shirt off, tossed it, and fell back onto the bed, throwing an arm over his eyes and smiling geekily. No doubt he was embarrassed. To add to the atmosphere, Lance stripped down to his boxers.

  
Keith's dick was upright in front of Lance, the tip of the head reddened with blood flow and arousal. The red paladin let out a sigh of anticipation, peeking down at Lance.

  
Lance hesitated. "I really really don't wanna mess this up," Lance said.

  
"It's okay. Go whenever you're ready and I'll let you know what feels good, 'kay?"

  
Lance nodded. He wet his lips a bit and wrapped them around the tip, and began to slip up and down, up and down. He went further down every time he came back up. Keith reached his free hand down to hold the back of Lance's head as he bobbed up and down, and Lance lightly sucked his cock. Keith gripped Lance's hair a little more, and Lance began to flick his tongue around, being as sloppy as a blowjob would allow.

  
Lance began to dig his short nails into Keith's hips, which stimulated him as he began to breathe deeply and quickly, moaning out Lance's name as Lance breathed heavily through his nostrils. With the paladin's dick being covered in saliva, it made it easier for Lance to slide up and down faster.

  
Keith held Lance's head from the back of his neck, and gripped tightly at the sheets as he got closer and closer to climax. The two were breaking out into a hot sweat, and Lance could already tell his boxers were damp from the intense excitement.

  
"Lance..." Keith murmured, slightly thrusting his hips into Lance's mouth, "Lan-Ah! I think I'm about- about to finish..."

  
Lance paid no attention to this but kept eagerly enjoying his position, still quietly moaning. Keith was breathing heavily. His body shuddered as a sort of premonition, and he felt himself coming in Lance's mouth. He felt an intense few seconds of pleasure and then let his body go limp from exhaustion.

  
Lance ran over to Keith's bathroom and spit into the sink. He borrowed some of Keith's mouthwash to get rid of the taste, grabbing a towel on his way back.

  
"Oh, sorry," Keith said, still panting, "I guess that would taste pretty bad..."

  
Lance waved him off and threw him the towel in case he needed to clean up. "A little bitter, but worth it."

  
Lance crawled over to Keith and they both went under the covers.

  
"It was worth it for you too, right?" Lance asked. He threw his arm over Keith's stomach and placed his head on Keith's chest, listening to the steady, rapid heartbeat.

  
"It felt amazing. Especially since I've never been given oral before. I don't know if this is your first time, but you did an amazing job."

  
Keith kissed Lance on the top of his head, and within minutes, they fell asleep together.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> heh
> 
>  
> 
> fukc ye


	7. Whole

Keith and Lance woke up to the sweet sound of Coran speaking over the PA system. "Rise and shine, paladins!" he yelled, as if the microphone were broken, "Training starts up again after breakfast!"

  
Lance groaned and tugged on the covers a little, resulting in Keith's feet popping out. Keith glanced around the room with his half-open eyes, squinting slightly at the lights of distant stars. After a few minutes, he broke away from his dreamy mindset and took in the blue and green of the nebulae around the castle, just outside his window. Yawning happily, he turned to Lance and gave him a few gentle shakes. Lance mumbled something in Spanish that Keith had trouble understanding, but he thought he heard the word "mom" somewhere in there. Lance was lightly snoring in a matter of seconds.

  
Keith got up to stretch and take a new pair of clothes from the small closet, grabbing a clean set of navy blue briefs. He headed over to the bathroom door and went ahead in, turning on a steamy shower before heading on in. Lance woke up a few minutes later, groggy and confused. Hearing the sound of a shower, he sleepily made his way over to the bathroom door, adjusting his boxers. He knocked lightly on the door.

  
"Keith," he called out, "You in there?"

  
"Yep."

  
"Can I join you?" Lance said, his voice crackly from having just woken up.

  
"Uh.... Sure, if you're okay with that," Keith replied.

  
Lance dragged himself in, rubbing his eyes to adjust to the light. He was barely able to make out Keith's figure through the glass door, and the steam rolled out from underneath it. The mirror was foggy and Lance could only see from his chest down. Confidently, he threw off his boxers and hopped into the shower.  
Keith peered at him from a profile view, his face flushed- partially from the hot shower and mostly from Lance's presence. However, Lance walked in and almost immediately got pelted in the face by the water stream, waking him up completely. Keith snickered at him. Lance suddenly got a grasp at where he was, and turned away in embarrassment.

  
"I don't even know how you wake up on your own, Lance," Keith laughed.

  
Lance glanced at him. "I usually don't... sleep that late," Lance replied sheepishly.

  
Keith shrugged and smiled warmly at him. Lance stepped towards the red paladin and wrapped his arms around his neck. In response, Keith held his hips.  
"Thank you for helping me with everything," Lance said, teary-eyed, "I feel like I just don't deserve it."

  
Keith placed his hands on Lance's shoulders and brought him away a bit. He placed one of his hands on Lance's cheek, wiping away a potential tear with his thumb. Lance leaned into it, holding his hands to Keith's own hand and wrist.

  
"Lance," Keith breathed out, sounding almost disappointed, "Please, don't ever think of yourself as lesser. You're an amazing paladin, a sharp shooter, and a great friend. My best friend, and something more. You're the reason I learned to take teamwork so seriously. You're the reason I'm more trusting and open. You've only done good to this team since you've joined it. Nothing would've worked out if you hadn't come along with Hunk and Pidge. So don't doubt yourself, okay? If you're doubting yourself, what would this team be?"

  
Lance was crying from joy, but Keith couldn't tell since they were still in the shower.

  
"Keith," Lance said in a broken voice, "You're the piece that completes me."

  
Keith shook his head and kissed Lance's cheek, saying, "You were always whole. We complete a team."

  
Lance pulled him closer, whispering a quick 'thank you' before Coran began yelling over the speakers again.

  
"Guess we'd better actually shower," Keith said, smirking and grabbing a bottle of shampoo. Lance shrugged and they shampooed and soaped themselves up, slipping and sliding to rinse themselves off. Within a few minutes, they were out and changed, and blow-dried their hair quickly before heading off to breakfast.

  
"Keith," Lance said, grabbing his hand before they made it out the dining hall.

  
Keith turned around and met with a very caring look from Lance. He smiled, placing a hand over his heart when he saw how genuinely happy Lance was. The blue paladin pulled him in for a prolonged, simple kiss.

  
"Keith," he repeated, "I love you so much."

  
They entered a tight embrace.

  
"I love you too, Lance."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There ya have it folks! happy ending!!! THANK YOU for reading!!!!!


End file.
